In the past year or two, rare earths have almost become an "itch" in some Japanese media, and every news that may crack down on "China's monopoly on rare earths" can receive a lot of cheers.

According to Japanese media reports on April 8th, Japan has recently discovered a huge rare earth mineral deposit in the Pacific Ocean, estimated to be between 80 billion and 100 billion tons, which can be easily mined. This discovery has made some people involuntarily say that it indicates that Japan is about to break free from China's embrace and establish its own door.

Indeed, just looking at the words "80 billion tons to 100 billion tons" of rare earth reserves discovered by Japan on the seabed is enough to shock the bottom line of Chinese psychology - Japan's rare earth resources have exceeded China's reserves, and China's voice in the rare earth market will be severely weakened in the future. Japanese officials recently stated that the discovery of "massive amounts of rare earths" in the waters surrounding Japan will jeopardize China's share of the world rare earth market.

However, industry insiders believe that Japan's motive for breaking this news is somewhat exaggerated. To put it more directly, Japan claims that the discovery of a huge amount of rare earths underwater raises suspicion of creating false news. They have already reported news of rare earth discoveries more than once. In fact, the report by Japanese media about the discovery of "massive amounts of rare earths" underwater is already considered "old news", as such information had been revealed four years ago.

In March 2013, the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun reported that in 2012, Professor Takahiro Kato from Tohoku University discovered sea mud containing rare earths in the exclusive economic zone of Nantori Island at its eastern end. After testing, it was found that the concentration of rare earth mud in this area is 20 to 30 times that of China's onshore rare earth. Based on Japan's current annual consumption, the rare earth mud in this sea area alone can be used for 230 years. Once successfully developed, Japan will remove its label as a "resource poor country" in one fell swoop.

Once this news was disclosed, in the eyes of many Japanese, including some Chinese, it seems that Japan has a huge amount of rare earth reserves. The Japanese government has decided to develop these rare earth resources, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has formulated a budget. In the next three years, it plans to conduct trials in 40 places to achieve commercial production.

In fact, whether it is the discovery of "80 billion tons to 100 billion tons" of rare earths in Japan's seabed now, or the discovery in 2012 that the concentration of rare earths in seabed mud was 20 to 30 times that of China's onshore rare earths, these news are all news hype and not practical. What rare earth mineral can be so large? Even if a large amount of rare earth minerals are indeed discovered on the seabed, it is impossible to develop them in a short period of time.

The reason for doing so, on the one hand, implies breaking through China's monopoly; On the other hand, we hope to once again spark a rare earth public opinion debate with our country to engage in a battle of wits and courage. Of course, it also reflects their contradictory mentality, both wanting to get rid of their dependence on our country and having to rely on it.

No wonder the news of Japanese scientists discovering a vast amount of rare earths made the Japanese feel like they had found a treasure. The most appropriate description would be: Japanese people are almost crazy about rare earths.